Everything Means Nothing
by O.G. Knights
Summary: Heather "Heat" Shepherd knows Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, and they're like her brothers. But they have everything she doesn't when it comes to skating and surfing. Will she improve her skills or go even farther downhill?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams, Skip Engblom and other people I forgot are all real peoples and I give them full credit for themselves.

**Author's Note: **Okay! Where do I start? Um, I've only written one other story and I'll do my best for this one.

I will also warn you that some of my chapters are a little short… It happens, but usually the chapter after that is even better. Chapters are short because I'm saving some of the plot for other chapters.

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**Everything Means Nothing**

_Chapter One_

**Venice "Dogtown", California; March, 1975; 5:30 A.M.**

"Psst! Heat! Heat!" A familiar voice interrupted my sleep. Then the voice whispered a bit more loudly, "Heather Shepherd!"

I groaned and put a pillow over my face.

"Ugh…" I heard a bit of rattling and footsteps. Then someone began to shake me. "Come on. Get up, Heat. The waves are good this morning!"

Without opening my eyes, I finally recognized the voice. I raised my eyebrows and removed the pillow rom my face. "What time is it, Stace?"

"Five thirty," he answered.

"What time are we surfing?"

"Six."

"Can I skip one morning?" I opened my eyes and sat up, looking up at Stacy's face. His long, dirty blonde hair framed it, casting a shadow over it. The faint glow of the rising sun gave his hair a golden glow.

"No, no, no," Stacy answered. "Come on. You don't wanna miss this one! Besides Jay is already outside."

"Who's going?"

"We're gonna grab T.A. on the way, but Chino and Skip are already down at the pier."

I sighed. "Alright… Give me a minute."

"Jay and I will be outside," Stacy said. He ran across my bed and then climbed back out the window.

I changed into some jeans and a red tank top. Then I slipped on my plain, black converse, grabbing my surfboard. I slung a small bag with my wetsuit in it over my shoulder.

I walked over to the window. I whistled. "Jay! Jay-boy!"

Jay turned his head from the conversation he was having with Stacy. "What's up, Heat?"

"Catch," I whispered loudly. I lowered the board down and Jay took it in his hands. I saw Stacy on his bike with his surfboard.

"Hurry up!" Jay whispered.

"Don't rush me," I said back. I climbed down the side of the house and grabbed my skateboard, then took my surfboard from Jay. "Let's go." I put my skateboard on the ground and pushed off, skating down the street.

When we reached Tony's house the three of us ran over to the window of his bedroom. We pried it open and I climbed inside. Jay and Stacy came behind me. We gathered around his bed.

"Okay…" Jay said, grinning a bit. "Dude, dude. T.A…. Tony."

I shook Tony and he opened his eyes. "What the hell, guys?" he asked, groggily.

"Skip and Chino are at the pier. Nice waves today. We better hurry," I explained.

Tony groaned tiredly and got up. He still wore jeans, but he grabbed a t-shirt and slipped it on. He took his surfboard from the corner of his room and the four of us climbed out Tony's window.

Once again, we were racing down the streets, surfboards in hand, on our skateboards. When we came to a steep hill we stopped and exchanged glances, seeming to say something.

Before the rest of us could react, Tony sped down the hill and we all raced after him.  
>"Damn, Tony!" I yelled after him. Tony was a <em>really <em>good skateboarder, and we all slightly envied him. The only one who could compete with him was Jay.

Then, gravity took hold and I just beat Tony at the bottom of the hill. "Suck it, Alva," I teased.

"Man, Heat brought on the heat!" Stacy said, taunting Tony. Stacy used the nickname they had given to me. My real name was Heather Shepherds, but they called me Heat and occasionally Heath.

Tony scowled at them a bit. "Shut up…"

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

When we reached the pier, Skip was out in the water with the other "adults", surfing. And, man, was Skip good! The waves this morning were pretty big and rough, but Skip was an expert surfer, so it was nothing for him.

"It's big today," Stacy said, watching them and the waves.

"That's Skip charging," Jay said, pointing at Skip in the water.

Right then and there, Skip took on some small, but rough waves.

"Shit, dude," Jay said with a slight, amused laugh.

"It's judgment day boys," Tony announced. He had a determined look in his eye as he stared at the water.

Suddenly, Chino grabbed Tony's arm. "You broads aren't surfing now."

"I ain't surfing no sloppy second!" Tony argued.

"You're on rat patrol, mop-top!" Chino said back. He looked at me. "You should be at the boneyards."

I groaned and walked to where I should.

**About 15 Minutes Later…**

Jay, Tony, Stacy and I watched as Skip walked onto the boards underneath the pier, finished surfing. We had gotten into our wetsuits ready to take our turn.

"Get out there and surf, you little grommets!" Skip said, his words slurring together. He shove dme towards the water a bit. He always sounded like that, as he was a drunk. "And don't disappoint me!"

"Yes!" Stacy said excitedly. He grabbed his board and rushed into the water. I followed him and Tony and Jay behind me.

Stacy and I paddled on our boards beside each other, racing for a massive wave that was coming. "This is mine, Peralta," I said and stood up on my board taking it. I balanced my wait and shifted it to turn and do a few minor trick turns. The wave was practically over me and I leaned forward on the board to rush out of it. When I did, I heard hollers and surprised yells from Tony, Skip and the other guys.

I smiled. I usually wasn't very good at surfing, but today was pretty good. I paddled for another wave as Tony took the next one. He was probably the best surfer out of us four.

"Whoo!" I yelled. I sat on my board in some calm water, clapping. "Yeah, Tony!"

Tony looked over and smiled, still going.

I looked over, seeing Skip watching him intensely.

Stacy took the next wave.

Then Jay tried to beat me for the one after that, but I beat him again.

Just as I stood up, water came crashing down on me and I hit my shoulder on one of the jutting rocks at the boneyards. "Shit!" I said. Water came down again, pushing me under. When I surfaced, I took a big gulp of air and saw my board floating in the water next to me. Luckily, it was fine- just a few scratches. I grabbed it and climbed on paddling back to the shore.

Skip whistled to get my attention and it worked. "Yeah, back to the boneyards for you, girlie!" he yelled at me. Chino and the others laughed at me, along with Skip.

I scowled, angry with myself. How could I not see that coming?

Jay and Stacy were surfing the same wave together and doing well, until Jay lost his footing. Stacy stayed but soon the same thing happened and they came to the shore next to me.

"Hey, great job guys," I congratulated flatly.

"Come on, Heather!" Jay said, using my real name. "You did good!"

"I can't surf shit, man," I retorted. "Did you even see that wipeout?"

Tony looked at me and rubbed the back of his neck. He was going to say something, but decided not to.

"It was still good," Stacy said, with an unsure tone to his voice.

"Yeah, whatever…"

I looked at Skip and he seemed to stare past me with that far-away look he always had in his eyes. Then I could feel him looking at me, saying "better luck next time".

I sighed and picked my board up off the ground, walking back up to wear my skateboard was with Stacy, Jay and Tony.

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**Author's Note: **What do you think? Please read and review, I'd like to know if there's anything I can improve on…

Now, I hope you liked my approach to the surfing and skating part of my character. Usually I see the girl characters in fan-fictions for this movie having amazing talent in surfing and skating from the start. I decided for Heather to be…well, not very good, but still pretty good. This way, it's a bit less cliché.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Venice "Dogtown", California; March, 1975; 4:00 P.M.**

I kicked my skateboard up as I got into the Zephyr surf shop. I saw Sid with a broom and Skip and Chino messing with him, yelling.

"Sid!" Chino yelled as Skip hit a hammer on the counter. I saw Sid fall to the floor. Chino cracked up.

"That- That was good," Sid said, not meaning it at all.

I walked in with my board in my hands. "What's up, Baby Sid?" I patted his shoulder and said, "Hey Skip."

Skip gave me a glace and flashed a meaningless smile, but then looked back to Sid. "Oh, man, I'm sorry, Sid."

Sid looked at me with a look that said "aren't you going to do anything?"

I shrugged at him, raising my eyebrows a bit.

"Hey, why do I pay you, when I should have you arrested for _loitering_?" Skip said.

"But you _don't _pay me," Sid retorted, a small smile on his face.

"Well, now you know why, Sid."

Sid rolled his eyes and I walked over to the counter, standing in front of Skip. He mixed orange juice and whiskey together.

"What do you need, girlie?" Skip said. He didn't look up at me. And he always called me 'girlie'. Never Heat, Heath, not even Heather!

"New board," I answered simply. "My brother took mine out today and wrecked it."

Skip looked up at me, his messy, golden-blonde hair falling around his face. He chuckled. "You got 20 bucks?"

"Damn it, Skip," I muttered. I pulled a twenty dollar bill out of my back pocket and put it on the counter. "You happy?"

Skip took it and shoved it in his pocket. "Very."

Soon, an older man shoved me out of the way holding a brown, paper bag. Skip didn't look at him, at first, only at the man in the back of the store.

"Uh, yeah. Hi," he said, waving.

The man looked up and returned the greeting.

"Yeah… This isn't a library," Skip explained. "So…it's ten bucks to browse. You got ten bucks?"

"Didn't bring any money with me today…" the man said rather timidly.

"Yeah, well, why'd you come into my store, then, asshole?" Skip said. He didn't sound real angry- just annoyed.

"Go browse in the Valley, kook!" Chino said as the man walked out of Zephyr.

Skip watched, and then turned to the man who had pushed me out of the way. "Okay, so, what? You got cash, or…? What?" he muttered to the man. He passed glance to me that said "go away".

I rolled my eyes and walked over to Sid, but still tried to listen to them.

"Man, I got something better than cash," the man said. He put the brown bag on the counter and poured out four golden-yellow skateboard wheels. "These are urethane skateboard wheels."

Skip picked up two, studying them and Sid rushed over grabbing the other two.

"They're ure-what?" Skip chuckled harshly with a smile on his face.

"Urethane, man. It comes from oil," the man explained.

"From oil?" Skip questioned.

"Yep. With these, you can do the same hard turns you do on your surfboard."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. You can even climb walls, man, because they grip," the man said, smiling.

"They grip?" Skip said. Sid echoed him.

"They grip," he repeated.

"Shit…" Sid whispered, amazed.

Then Tony, Jay and Stacy came in the store. "Sid, Heat! You should've seen us man!"

"Check it out!" I said, tossing a wheel to Stacy.

"They're urethane. They come from oil," Sid said. Then he added quickly, "And they grip!"

Tony took the other wheel from Sid.

"Wow…" Stacy said in amazement, looking at it.

**15 Minutes Later…**

We all climbed the fence to the skate-park. Skip was already there, standing on a table holding a skateboard with the new wheels. "Who's got bad karma?" he asked loudly. "I said, who's got bad karma?"

There were many "me"s and "I do"s, but Skip held the board higher in the air when people tried to grab it.

"Dude, right here, Skip!" someone yelled.

"Oh, no, no! Uh-uh-uh!" Skip said. He sounded almost like a kid as he kept it out of the reach of everyone.

"That's my board. Give me that!" Tony said, reaching for it. But before he could grab it, I pushed him aside ripping it from Skip's grip.

"Next time, T.A.," I teased. I took it and stepped on it, pushing off the ground, starting to skateboard, doing some S turns.

When I stopped, Skip gave a holler of praise and said, "Nice job, man! Nice job."

I stepped off the skateboard and Tony grabbed it from me, quickly getting on. He did some low 360s and we all cheered. "Nice, Tony!"

Jay took the board next, obviously trying to show off to Kathy- Tony's sister- who'd just arrived.

"Yeah, Jay-boy!" I yelled.

After Jay messed up and fell, Stacy grabbed the board and walked up next to the fence, starting from there.

Soon enough we were all skating.

To tease me, Tony skated circles around me, smirking.

"Cut it out, Alva," I said, annoyed.

He shook his head and skated away from me.

I rolled my eyes and skated around doing some low 360s and then a 180 _Power Slide_.

We all heard a loud whistle from Skip with Chino, Montoya and Stecyk sitting by him. Most of us turned to look at him, but he only pointed at me. "Heat!" he called, using my nickname. He waved a hand telling me to come over to him.

My eyes widened and I looked at him. I pointed my index finger at myself, asking him if he meant me.

"Yes, you," Skip said. "C'mere!"

I swallowed and walked over to him, with my board in my hand. "Yeah, Skip?"

"Where'd you learn to skate like that?" he asked.

"Stacy's been giving me tips-" Skip then interrupted me.

"Peralta?" he said, not believing me.

"Well, T.A. and Jay helped too," I added.

He nodded. I knew he wasn't too fond of Stacy, because he wasn't as good as the rest of us.

"Why?" I asked.

"You were shit on the waves this morning." Skip shrugged.

"Thanks…" I muttered sarcastically. I turned and stepped on my skateboard, skating down the slope of the skate-park, joining everyone else.

"Hey! Heather!" Jay called over to me.

I skated over to him. "Yep?"

"What'd Skip say?"

"He wanted to know where I learned to skate," I answered truthfully.

Jay nodded. "What'd you say?"

"That you, Tony and Stace gave me some tips."

He nodded again and then skated away.

I turned around on my skateboard and saw Stacy leaving on his bike, looking back at Skip with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Yeah, get a haircut, man!" Skip yelled after him.

Suddenly Sid rushed over to me and Tony came over.

"Heather! Tony!" Sid said excitedly. "Dude. Skip's starting a skate team!"

I chuckled. "You're kidding."

"No. Skip said so," Sid said. He looked at Tony and Tony just nodded.

"Skip would," he said.

I nodded. "What else?"

"Nothing. I didn't hear anything else," Sid said.

I shrugged. "Well, see if you figure anything else out. Now, I gotta go before my parents kill me."

Tony said bye and so did Sid when I began to skate away and back to my house. I was supposed to be baby-sitting my younger brother and sister tonight.

When I got home, I walked inside and my mom gave me a stern look from the couch. "Where have you been, young lady?"

"At the skate-park with Skip and everyone," I answered.

"You were supposed to be home sooner!"

"Jeez, I'm sorry. I lost track of time."

My dad walked out from the kitchen. He and my mom were going out of town for the night. "Hey, squirt," he greeted.

"Hi, dad," I said with a smile. "Hey, dad. Skip's putting together a skateboard team?"

"You sure?" He didn't seem to believe me.

"Yeah dad. Sid heard Skip say so himself."

"Well, if money's involved, Skip's there," my dad chuckled. He ruffled my hair as he passed by me. "'Kay. See you three tomorrow night."

I nodded. "Bye dad! By mom!"

My brother and sister looked at me. My brother was 13 and my sister was 10. I was 16, myself. "Okay… Patrick, take care of Julia. I'm going over to Stacy's."

Patrick nodded. He didn't really care. Besides, Julia knew how to take care of herself.

I walked out of the house with the skateboard. I stepped on it and skated down the street towards Stacy's house.

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When I got there, Stacy was outside on his skateboard practicing. He did some turns and then he groaned a bit.

"Hey, Stace," I said.

Stacy turned and smiled a bit. "What's up, Heather?"

"Nothing," I said with a shrug. I stepped off the skateboard and walked over to him. "Hey. Why were you so angry when you left the skate-park earlier?"

"Skip," he said quickly.

I nodded. I didn't want to ask him what happened. "Did you hear Skip's putting a skate team together?"

"Yeah. Jay and Sid told me," Stacy said.

"Who d'you think Skip's gonna put on?"

"Let's just hope everyone."

I nodded. "Yeah…"

I stayed there talking and skating with him for about an hour before going back home to find Patrick and Julia in their rooms sleeping. I sighed and walked up to my room, falling asleep myself.

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**Author's Note: **How was Chapter Two? Better than the first, I hope…

Please read and review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Venice "Dogtown", California; March, 1975**

"Hurry up, man!" Jay called back to me as we neared the Zephyr shop.

I sped up on my skateboard, catching up with him. We stopped and kicked our boards up, holding them in our hands as we walked inside. Red Dog, Shogo, Biniak and everyone else was already there and we sat down.

Skip sat on the counter wearing his usual jeans and flip-flops. Chino and Stecyk stood beside him.

"You made it," Skip slurred as we sat down.

Jay didn't look up at him and I just shrugged.

Skip clapped to get everyone's attention. They were all pushing and shoving and conversing. "Shut up," I heard someone say.

"Come on," Skip said.

Chino clapped and we all looked forward, though some still messed around.

"Hey, listen, when you're riding for one of these shops around town- Yeah?- you can have off days," Skip explained.

"You have an off day riding for this shop, it's treason," Stecyk finished.

"Yeah, you gotta approach every day like it's your last. All right?" Skip's gaze looked around to all of us and we watched a bit intently. We couldn't really tell Skip looked at all of us because he wore his sunglasses which hid his eyes.

"Yep!" Jay said beside me.

"Anyone got a problem with that?" Skip questioned. He waited for an answer.

There were scattered "no"s and "nope"s.

"Stecyk?" Skip looked to his colleague and Stecyk held a pile of navy blue t-shirts.

"Heat," he announced. He tossed the t-shirt to me and I caught it, holding it happily.

"You're kidding!" I said. I held it up to look at it. It had "Zephyr" printed on the front.

"Take off your shirt, Heather," one of the guys said.

I turned around and rolled my eyes.

"Wentzle," Stecyk announced next. He went all around the room until we all had t-shirts. The guys were taking their shirts off and slipping their new ones on. I just slipped my "Zephyr" shirt on over my gray shirt.

"Wear 'em with pride, man," Skip told us. I nodded a bit and looked down at the t-shirt smiling.

Jay only had his half on. He laughed a bit and then said in a nasally voice, mocking Skip, "Yeah, wear 'em with pride, man."

Skip stared at him then gave me a glance. He didn't look amused.

The other guys laughed and I chuckled a bit, but stopped immediately as Skip's eyes landed on me again. My cheeks when bright red.

Chino grabbed Jay and said, firmly, "Or we'll rip them off your bony, little backs, you understand?"

"Yeah…" Jay said a bit unsure. He smiled.

"Okay," Skip said. "Now, has everyone seen this?" He held up a skate competition poster and we all gasped and exchanged glances.

One of the guys stood up and grabbed it. He read it over and most of the others huddled around him. "Skateboard competition."

"You can't even read," another teased.

"You have one month to prepare," Skip said. He made sure we were paying attention- this was important to him. "And we're gonna have training starting at 4 every day, all right?"

We all paid good attention to him. "We gotta get serious here. We have to, because there are gonna be hundreds of skaters from all over the country, and we need to shut them down."

We all cheered a bit. "Yeah!"

Skip turned and looked to the back of the shop. "Montoya, come on!" he said. He turned back to us. "We got you guys some gifts- I don't know why…"

Montoya came out with a bag of new skateboards. He began to pull them out and we all crowded around him grabbing for them.

I grabbed a blue one and looked it over, smiling. "Sweet…"

We all rushed to the door of the shop and out.

"Thanks, Skip!" I called.

"Yeah…" he said flatly back.

When Jay didn't follow, I looked back seeing him talking to Skip. Then Skip didn't answer. I shrugged and turned around following Tony and the others. We all started to skateboard down the street.

"Hey, I'm not bailing your asses out of jail!" Skip yelled towards us. I turned around seeing Chino, Stecyk, Skip and Montoya eyeing us.

Then Biniak didn't realize where he was going and ran into a shop window, breaking it.

"Oh shit!" Jay said.

We began to skate back to the shop, so we wouldn't get caught, but Skip and Chino had closed the gate.

"Hey! Hey! Get back here!" the shop owner said.

As se all rushed to the gate, I heard Skip say, "It was supposed to keep 'em _out _of trouble man!"

We pounded on the gate. "Let us in!"

When he didn't we all ran the other way, getting away from the shop owner.

**10 Minutes Later…**

We had successfully gotten away and were skateboarding through down, across the streets and down alleys.

At the lead of everyone else, I heard one of the guys yell, "Speed wobble!" and then I heard a crash. I didn't dare look back, but only kept skating.

Jay got to the front and then he went to his house. I followed but soon told most of the guys I was gonna head out. They said 'bye' and I waved to them, skating back to Zephyr.

When I got there the gate was still closed. "Hey c'mon, Skip. Let me in man…"

Skip walked over to the gate and unlocked it. "You guys were in some serious shit back there…"

I walked in. "I paid you twenty yesterday, I want my board."

"Yeah, whatever," Skip slurred. He held a class of orange juice and whiskey.

I went over to some surfboards and looked back at him. "How do you drink that stuff?"

"You're only sixteen, man, you wouldn't know," he answered.

"Whatever," I muttered. I chose a red and blue surfboard. "I'm outta here."

I immediately went home and grabbed my wetsuit. I skated to the pier and suited up, then got my new surfboard to try it out. There were some large waves today and I was going to take them.

I paddled out into the water and then took a wave, doing some hard turns on the water. I made sure I kept my footing and stayed out of the way of monster waves.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When I had finished, my cheeks were pink from the cold water and my brown and golden blonde hair was drenched and stuck to my skin. I panted and got out of the water.

Then I saw Stacy walk up to the pier. He looked at me and smiled a bit.

I waved. "Hey, Stace," I greeted, breaths separating my words.

He waved back. "So… Jay told me about the team…"

"Oh, yeah. Right." I wasn't really sure what to say to that. Stacy was my friend and he hadn't made it on, but… What should I say?

"Come on, Heather," Stacy laughed. "We all knew I wasn't gonna get on. Skip doesn't like me."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Stacy… I, er, I have to go." I didn't want to awkwardness of this talk haunt me any longer. I took my board and ran up the hill, getting on my skateboard. I held my converse in my hands, as I skated barefoot.

On the ride home I thought about how Stacy felt. "He must feel like crap…" I muttered.

"Mom's gonna be home any minute!" Patrick yelled at me from the front door as I came up the driveway. I walked in the door and set my skateboard down and then went to my room, putting my surfboard away, and then changing into a dry pair of jeans and a black tank top.

I came down the stairs. "Where's Julia?"

"She's asleep in her room," Patrick said.

"Good," I replied quickly. Then I brought up a heart-warming subject. "Oh yeah! You know my surfboard? The green and blue one? The one you _wrecked_?"

Patrick swallowed. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um… whoops?"

"Gimme twenty bucks," I said, holding my hand out. My long hair dripped water on the floor and drenched the back of my tank top.

Patrick groaned. "Why?"

"Because I had to pay for a new one."

He sighed and took a twenty from his pocket, putting it in my hand.

I shoved it in my pocket satisfied. "Thank you… Now get some dinner, before mom and dad get here. They'll think I starved you." I pushed him towards the kitchen and he walked there.

I sat down on the couch, lying my head back taking a few deep breaths.

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**Author's Note: **Yay for a terrible chapter!

Also… Two chapters in one day? How is this possible? Then again, some are actually reviewing so I _want _to write more. That may be the reason.

Thank you **alicefavcullen **for reviewing the most! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Bahne-Cadillac Nationals; Dell Mar, California; April, 1975**

Tony and I climbed into Skip's car.

Sid turned around and yelled at us, "Son of a bitch!"

I smiled as I realized what song was playing. It was _Hair of the Dog _by Nazareth.

Tony, me and everyone- including Skip- was singing along (well, shouting) with the song.

"_Now you're messin' with a song of a bitch!"_ We all said. We smiled and bobbed our heads to the beat.

Soon, Skip turned the radio off.

"Whoa!" Tony said. "Why'd you turn the music off?"

Skip didn't answer him. He turned around for a moment, looking at us sitting in the back seat- even though we weren't really sitting. More along the lines of kneeling.

"Now, I want you little maggots to make me proud. All right?" He didn't smile. Skip turned around and looked back to the road.

"You can found on us, Skip!" I answered for the others.

"Good," Skip said.

**10 Minutes Later…**

"Go, go, go, go, go!" I said, shoving Tony out the car door.

He stumbled out and looked back at me, eyes narrowed. I returned the glare in a silly way.

I rushed back to the trunk of the car, wanting to get my skateboard.

Skip walked back to wear we all stood. "Hey, hey, wait, wait, wait! Come on. Hey."

We pounded on the car, telling Skip we wanted him to open it.

"Hey, one at a time. One at a time, all right?" Skip ordered.

Of course, we didn't obey. We all just grabbed our skateboards and walked towards the long line of skaters and their teams.

I looked back seeing Skip mutter something to Tony. I wondered what it was, but pushed the thought away.

Skip walked to the front of us and began pushing people out of our way, Jay helping him.

"Yeah, sorry. Yeah, sorry about that. Sorry. Yeah," Skip said, excusing himself from his rudeness. "It's an emergency. Yeah, hi."

I smiled at Skip. He was being rude, but as long as we got to the front of the line, I guess. I laughed a bit as people scolded us for pushing through.

We began to push through a team of skaters wearing bright yellow shirts.

"Oh, nice socks, man. Nice socks," Skip said sarcastically. He began to chuckle, "Nice socks…"

When we reached the front of the line, Skip put his hands on the table, bending over a bit. "Yeah, this is Skip Engblom and the Zephyr Skateboard Team," he said to the lady sitting at the table. He lifted his shirt a bit and pulled out a check. He placed it on the table. Here's our entry fees. Now, where's our trophies?" He smiled and we all smiled with him, cheering.

Right then and there, the lady got up in disgust, only for a security guard to come over. We watched as Skip handled the situation.

"Excuse me," the man said. "Go to the end of the line!"

Skip stuttered for a moment, but then said strongly, yet a bit quietly, "Yeah… I thought this was the end of the line, man. Is it not?"

"Go to the end of the line," the security guard repeated.

We all narrowed our eyes at him and mumbled amongst ourselves.

"Hey, man, listen. I'm, uh-" Skip stopped and thought for a brief second. "Yeah? I'm sure we could, uh…work something out here." He took out his wallet and showed the man a one-hundred dollar bill.

"Yeah…"

"Is that good?" Skip put a bill in the man's hand.

"All right. You and your boys are okay. All right, have a good day," he said. Who said a man couldn't be bribed, right?

Skip nodded a bit and smiled, mischievously.

"You right there are okay!" The security guard pointed at us.

"Yeah? Have a good day, man," Skip said back and he rushed off to join us.

We had all gotten on our skateboards and skated to the crowd around the skating area. "Where's the course?"

We gathered with them and watched the other skaters.

"There's a nice L-Sit by Russ Howell," we heard the announcer say. "He's gonna press up now into a handstand…"

We saw a skater do a handstand on the moving board and we shook our heads.

I tapped Jay lightly on the arm and muttered to him, "We can do so much better…"

Jay nodded and chuckled a bit, but kept watching.

"What are we supposed to do with this tabletop?" Biniak said, staring at it.

I looked at the skating area. It was practically flat! How were we supposed to skate on it? I sighed.

The skater did some 360s and I scoffed.

Skip motioned towards the skater with a smile on his face, saying to us "can you believe that?"

"Next up, Ty Page, riding for Unity Skateboards," the announcer said.

Most of us didn't watch the skater, only talked amongst ourselves. But when the skater went into a handstand we all watched.

"Next up, Jay Adams, riding for Zephyr Skateboards."

We all began to cheer and yell happily as Jay walked onto the platform with his board.

Skip walked over to the judges and soon some rock music was playing- Jay's favorite.

Everyone, and I mean _everyone, _watched as Jay did some low-driving turns and a low 180 with _Royal Christie_. Jay started to hop into the air on his skateboard and we cheered, until he skated right off the ramp!

He was back on his feet in no time, though and then finished quickly!

I patted him on the back as he joined us. "Yeah, Jay-boy."

Jay smiled and Skip complimented him.

Then Jay's score was announced. "Looks like two 7s and an 8 for Jay Adams."

My jaw dropped and I cursed a bit. "What?"

"Oh, come on!" Skip said behind me, definitely not happy with the score.

Soon a girl came up behind Jay and we turned around.

"Hey, you blew me away," she said.

Jay smiled and said humorously, "What? You want to _blow _me?"

I chuckled and the girl walked away saying, "Maybe!"

"Next up, Heather Shepherd, riding for Zephyr Skateboards," the announcer said.

I felt my stomach knot up. I swallowed and Skip nudged me to the platform.

I got on quickly and immediately began skating. I started with some S turns, and then went into some low-driving turns. As I skated in a quickly circle around the platform, my hand grazed the wood. Then I went into a Frontside 180 _power slide_. People cheered and I smiled, but paid close attention to what I was doing. I then did maybe about two or three 360s and then a walking spinner. Then, ending in front of the judges, I finished with a low-driving 360.

The cheering got louder and I got up, walking back over to the rest of my team. They patted me on the back and smiled, saying things like, "Nice, Heat!" or "That was awesome!"

My score was announced and I got two 10s and a 9.

"Yeah!" Skip said behind us, gloating to the other teams.

When Tony's name was announced he went up and did some awesome skating! He ended up tying with me and we smiled at him.

"Up next from Mar Vista, California, an independent skater, Stacy Peralta."

We all looked up at the sound of Stacy's name and sure enough we saw his long blonde hair on the edge of the platform.

As Stacy started to skate we cheered a bit and clapped. When he did five 360s, most of us gasped, but others just cheered him on.

When he finished he was tied with me. I clapped for him. "Two 10s and a 9 bring him into a first-place tie with Heather Shepherd!"

Stacy walked over to us and Sid jumped up, immediately greeting him. Tony and I got up next. I looked at him and smiled. "Nice, Stace!"

He smiled back. "Thanks, man."

I patted him on the shoulder and then he rushed over, giving a hug to his girlfriend, Kathy.

Then a man in a red shirt walked over to Tony and Stacy. "You're disqualified," he informed Stacy.

"What are you talking about?" Stacy questioned.

"You touched the course with your hands."

"Everyone touched the course-"

"Read the rules. You're disqualified!"

Tony then pushed Stacy aside to fight the fight. "Hey, man. Hey, man. Look. Look! The dude tied us!" He motioned to me.

"Can your dirty ass even read?" the man sneered.

And that's when Tony lost it, punching the man right in the face. He fell to the ground and we pulled Tony back.

"My dirty ass, right?" Tony said.

"Hey, ease up. Ease up, man!" Skip said to him.

"You saw that-"

"Yeah, ease up!"

"Hey, hey!" Another man approached us. "Off the fairgrounds!"

Skip pushed him away. "Cut these kids some slack, man!"

"Slack?"

"Yeah."

"You do you think you are, coming to our contest and pulling this_ shit_?"

"Pulling what shit, man? My boys are kicking your girls' asses!" Skip retorted. And, no, I wasn't offended by the comment. According Skip, most of the time, I wasn't even female… Did I care? Not really…

"I mean, every judge on the panel is on _your _payroll," he kept going. "What kind of shit is that, huh?" Skip shoved the man back and people booed and went "Whoa!"

Skip was shoved back and we caught him, pushing him back up.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" The man progressed towards Skip.

Then Skip unhooked his belt and whipped it off, curling it around his fist threateningly.

"Well, step up to the plate, man," Skip said angrily. "One at a time! You want it? Come on, will it be all of you?"

My eyes widened as Skip stepped towards them, holding his fist up. "Dude…"

"Come on! Yeah?" Skip looked at the man, his mind racing.

The man stepped back, actually scared of Skip- _our _Skip. Some other people watched fearfully too.

"Hey, look. All right." Skip dropped the belt from his hand. "It's gone, all right?" He held up his hands, proving it. Then he got closer in to the man in the peach-colored shirt. "Look, man. These kids are at a _tender age_. They _tense _easily, okay?"

"Your boy who punched my official is out!" the man said.

Tony looked on, jaw hanging a bit. "What?"

"Oh, come on!" Skip was suddenly angry again.

"Tony Alva's been disqualified!" the announcer informed us.

Tony walked away from us, not very happy and Skip followed him soon.

Jay and I watched and waited for him.

"Dude, he was disqualified… He's pissed…" Jay said.

I nodded and the awards were given out, Stacy taking first and Jay taking third.

I sighed, because I was hoping I would at least get second.

Skip came up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, girlie…"

"Yeah, whatever…" I muttered and walked away from him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **'Kay, so there's Chapter Four… Hoped you liked it… I'll be slower with the next chapters because of school. But I'll try my best.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Del Mar, California; April, 1975**

The whole team had piled into a few booths and a few tables at a small restaurant. We talked and laughed and some of us just sat there, bored.

I sat next to Tony and across from Skip as Tony and Skip talked about the competition.

"Let it go, man…" I muttered, becoming annoyed of Tony's content rambling about the disqualification.

"Let it go-" Tony looked at me, eyebrows knitted in anger. "Let it go? How can I let it go? I could have _won_!"

I nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't," I said with a small laugh and a smug grin.

He punched me in the shoulder and I winced. "Ow…"

He exhaled loudly through his nose. "You didn't either," he said.

My jaw dropped and my eyes became wide. "What? Really?"

"Shut up," Jay said. He threw a fry at me and I dodged it.

Skip looked around at us, amused.

Tony rolled his eyes and we all looked over as we saw Stacy enter the restaurant with Kathy.

He looked around at us hopefully.

Then Skip spoke up. "Take a seat, man."

Stacy smiled and we all exchanged glances, then a few cheered quietly.

He sat down at the table, Kathy next to him.

Then Stecyk held up a navy blue t-shirt. "Peralta."

We all looked at Stecyk then to Stacy and saw Stacy smiling. He couldn't believe it.

Stecyk whistled and Stacy got up, grabbing the t-shirt.

We clapped and smiled.

"You earned it, bro," Skip said.

I stared at Skip, confused. Bro? He never called anybody bro!

"Dude, you're one of us, now!" Sid said, sitting next to Skip.

Jay looked down at Sid, and then looked up at Stacy. "That maggot's always been one of us."

Stacy looked at us again, a very happy grin on his face.

"Yeah, wear it with pride, man," Skip said.

"You know I will!" Stacy replied, holding the t-shirt up, looking it over.

Then Skip smiled a bit. "Oh, hey, Stacy, that t-shirt…will get you more titty than you ever dreamed of, man." He smiled wider and we all laughed a bit.

"I got my boy covered, Skip," Kathy replied smugly.

We laughed and cheered at that comment.

Skip lifted himself and sat up by Jay on the back of the booth. "Hey, you guys made a mess of that contest today," he said.

"Oh, yeah!" I said as others cheered.

"They look at you as the enemy, right?" Skip continued.

Stecyk stood up as well. "But it's good to have enemies."

"Yeah," Skip agreed

Stecyk then tapped his plastic glass with a fork and held it up. "A toast."

"A toast!" we all repeated, holding up our own glasses.

"To the boy kings!" Stecyk said poetically. Then the sophisticated attitude was lost as he said, "You're all a bunch of filthy pillow-biters!" He began to throw ice around us and we joined in, throwing ice at each other.

Tony shoved some ice down my shirt and I jumped a bit as the cold substance slid down my back. I returned the favor by pouring ice-water down his shirt.

Suddenly the manager came over. "Stop! Stop!" he ordered. "You can't act like that here! This is a family restaurant!"

"Oooh!" a few of us said, not threatened by the small man.

Then Sid yelled and threw some food at the manager.

The man grabbed him, dragging him across and off the table.

"Hey get off him!" Skip yelled. He jumped up and shoved the manager into another booth, but the man only punched Skip in the face.

Skip fell back onto the table and Stecyk held him back yelling, "Hey! Hey! It's a family restaurant!"

"Get him, Skip!" I yelled.

"Go Skip!" Jay said.

Skip turned around and lunged at the man again, still angry.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Skip had just given Jay a ride home. It was nine or ten 'o' clock, at least, at the moment. It was dark, but the headlights of cars and street-lamps lit the road.

"Bye, Jay," I said.

Jay opened the door and climbed out of Skip's car. "Bye, Heather."

I waved and Skip stopped Jay for a moment. "Jay-boy," he said. "You kicked ass, man." He grabbed Jay's hand and Jay smiled.

"See you, Skip," Jay said.

Skip nodded and Jay walked behind the car and out of sight.

He stuck his head out the rolled down window as he backed out. "Okay… Let's get you home, girlie-girl," he said to me.

I nodded.

"You could'a won today. You know that?" he said, looking at me for a minute.

I stared down at my skateboard in my lap in the front seat, my brown-blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Yeah, I know."

"Don't feel bad," he slurred. I knew he was supposed to make me feel better, but it just wasn't working. "You did your best."

"Thanks, Skip," I muttered with a small smile.

When we pulled into my driveway I looked up at him. "Bye, Skip. See you tomorrow."

He stopped me. "Hey, how's that new board working out for you?"

"It's great!" I replied.

He nodded. "Okay… See you tomorrow, Heather."

I stopped from getting out, once again confused by the puzzling mind of Skip Engblom. I nodded. "See you."

I shut the door and Skip drove away as I walked into the house.

Right as I walked in my mother embraced me in a hug.

"Mom…" I wheezed through her tight grip. "What the hell?"

Then I noticed her crying uncontrollably. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much.

I saw Julia and Patrick in the living room, Julia's head lying down on my brother's lap. Her eyes were red too, but it looked as if Patrick hadn't shed a tear.

"What's going on?" I asked.

My mother let go of me and looked my face over. She brushed back a few stray hairs and didn't answer. She only sauntered up the steps, still sobbing.

I walked over and stood in front of Patrick. "What's going on? Why's mom so upset?"

Patrick sighed and looked up at me, lifting Julia's head off of his lap. "Go up to bed," he whispered to her.

Julia nodded and walked up the steps.

"Patrick!" I said out of annoyance.

"Look…" he muttered pointing to the TV.

"_This just in, the man has been identified," the reporter said. _

I knitted my eyes in confusion. He stood in front of a car wreck, one car beat up just as bad as the other. A body lay on the ground, bloody and it seemed the man had quite a few broken bones. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"_Jack Shepherd is the name of the man who lost his life in the wreck'_

My breath was caught in my throat. "What?" I croaked. "Dad's…dead?"

"Yeah…" Patrick muttered. He quickly got up and rushed to his room.

I fell down, sitting on the couch. I stared at the floor, eyes wide. I couldn't believe it. My dad was the safest driver I knew. He couldn't be gone. Could he?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The doorbell rang and my head shot up. I yawned and sighed, answering the door. I had fallen asleep on the couch after the shock last night.

Stacy stood before me. He smiled a bit and then laughed at my state.

My hair was falling out of my ponytail and my eyes were dark and tired-looking. I yawned again. "Shut up… I didn't get a lot of sleep," I muttered.

"Wanna go to the skate-park?" he asked.

Tony stood behind him, holding his skateboard. He waved at me.

I sighed. "Um… I don't know, Stace. I'm really tired right now, but maybe I'll catch up with you guys later. 'Kay?"

He nodded. "See you later, then."

He rushed off the porch and caught up with Tony as he started to skate down the street.

I closed the door and face-planted into a pillow on my couch.

I still couldn't believe it, but I couldn't lie on my couch for the rest of my life. So, reluctantly, I got up and rushed to my room. I took my hair down and brushed it out, leaving it down this time. I slipped into a clean pair of faded jeans and a red t-shirt. I put my navy-blue converse back on and ran back downstairs, taking my skateboard as I walked out the door.

Where was I going to go? I honestly didn't know. Wherever I ended up going, really…

Turns out I ended up going to Zephyr. As I walked in, I immediately regretted it. It's not like Skip would show…sympathy.

I raised a hand lazily in greeting to him and Sid.

Sid smiled. "Hey, Heather."

Skip didn't look up. He had another glass of orange juice and whiskey in his hand. "What's up, girlie?"

I shrugged. "Nothin'," I lied. "But…my dad kinda…_died_ in a car crash last night."

Skip's eyes were lifted to me, although his sunglasses hid them. "Oh… Sorry…"

I nodded and put my right hand in the back pocket of my jeans, because my left hand held my skateboard. "I think I'll live, though."

"Yeah, well, you kicked the contest's ass last night, so you can kick this problem's ass, you know," Skip said, trying to cheer me up. It was working.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. Gotta go…"

I walked out of Zephyr and Skip and Sid waved bye to me. I got on my skateboard and started for the skate-park. It had been hours, but Skip's attitude towards me was still mind-boggling. He called me by my name, actually showed a bit of sympathy… It was all very, very puzzling…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Sure it's a bit cliché that her dad died, but it has stuff to do with the plot… Maybe… I'm not actually sure…

So what'd you think? :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Venice "Dogtown", California; April 1975**

I sat in the back of Stacey's car as we drove to the pier looking for Sid and Jay.

"You okay back there, Heather?" Stacey asked, coming to a stop.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," I replied half-heartedly. I rubbed my face, tiredly.

The three of us got out of the car and we walked to a broken fence.

We saw Sid and Jay talking by the pier.

"It's still flat…" we heard Sid say.

Jay nodded. "Yeah. That's three days in a row."

"Hey!" Tony threw an empty soda can to get their attention.

They looked over.

"Get in!"

"Hurry up!" I added.

Stacey didn't say anything. He was too busy eating a burger.  
>I shook my head at him a bit and Sid and Jay ran over. We all climbed into Stacey's car and drove through the neighborhood, then stopped in front of one house.<p>

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Tony ordered. "Right here, right here, right here!"

I sat in the passenger's seat this time, my feet up on the dashboard. Jay squeezed in next to me in the passenger's seat.

We all looked over across the street, seeing a family pack up and put things in their car.

Stacey looked back at Tony. "Hey, isn't that the girl from Del Mar?"

Tony only raised his eyebrows briefly, with a mischievous smile on his face.

Stacey looked back over to the family. Then he turned back to Tony. "Oh…"

Tony stared out of the windshield of the car, at the girl.

Then Sid spoke up. "Dude, what are we doing here?"

Tony shoved Sid to the back. "Shut up, dork!" Then he added, "And sit back."

Jay started to mess with the windows, turning it up and down.

I looked over at him, knitting my eyebrows in confusion.

Then the handle broke off. Jay held it in his hand, staring at in.

Stacey reached over me to grab it and I put my feet down.

"Damn it, Jay!" Stacey said, staring at the handle. "Do you know how much this is gonna cost me? You're an idiot!"

Jay turned around, a smug smile on his face to look at Tony. "Jesus…" he muttered through his teeth.

"God…" Stacey set the handle down.

Then the family's car started to pull out.

"Get down, guys!" Tony demanded. He crouched down in the back seat. "Get down, get down, get down!"

I crouched down, next to Jay and Stacey just lowered his head.

Sid almost lay on top of Tony and Tony shoved him off. "Sid, get off me!"

When the car passed by, we all got back up, Stacey starting the car.  
>"Grab your skates, boys! <em>Let's roll!"<em> Tony said, laughing a bit.

Jay opened the car door and I climbed out after him.

Tony, Sid and Stacey climbed out next. Jay hid his skateboard in his shirt.

"How's that working for you, man?" I said to Jay. I just held my skateboard.

Jay shoved my shoulder.

We jogged over to the girl's house and walked to the back.

"Dude, are we gonna rob this place?" Jay asked.

Tony pulled some keys out of his pockets, waving them in the air, boasting.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Stacey said, smiling.

Tony opened the back gate to the house and we ran back, our skateboards still in our hands.

Tony ran over to the empty in-ground pool. He hopped in and put his hands up. "This wave breaks twenty-four hours a day, every day," he informed us. "And you know what, bros? We're gonna be the first to ride it!"

The rest of us exchanged glances and climbed down, grins on our faces.

Sid put his hands on the wall of the pool, smiling. "Dude, that's so genius!"

"Dude, there's no way," Stacey said in disbelief. "This is way too gnarly!"

Tony chuckled. "Not if you got the balls!" He ran by Jay, shoving him.

We climbed to the top of the pool and Tony was the only one of us with the guts to get on his skateboard and try it out. But he wasn't the last.

He rode up towards the rim of the pool, aiming to go over the light, but his skateboard shot up from under his feet and he fell, hitting the cement hard. "Awh!"

Once Tony got up and limped back to us, Stacey got onto his skateboard to try.

He didn't make it over the light- under the light, really. He fell too, rolling down the sides of the pool.

"Ohh!" we exclaimed.

"Ouch…" I muttered. Then I looked around at them. When no one went, I stopped onto my skateboard and rode towards the light.

My heart pounded and my mind raced! Then I felt the sensation of going up a hill, then falling. I hit the cement with a painful groan. "Damn…" I got up and sauntered back over to the other guys. "Shit…"

Jay chuckled and got on his skateboard, giving it a go. The same thing happened to him. We heard him curse under his breath as he hit the ground.

Sid began to laugh. "Oh, Jay!"

"Dude, you did a backflip!" Tony laughed.

Jay scowled at us and walked over. "Let's lose this stupid diving board!"

I turned my head to the diving board and we walked over, beginning to lift it out of the way.

Tony jumped back into the pool with a yell. "Wah-ta!" He took his skateboard and tried again.

"Dude, hit it low man," Jay suggested.

Tony didn't skate over the light, but just under it, smoothly. I smiled. "Sweet!"

"Yeah, Tony!" Stacey said.

"Yeah! You guys see that?" Tony smiled. "I carved it!"

Without a word, Jay hopped onto his skateboard, skating towards the light. And, to our astonishment, he skated _right over the light_! My jaw fell open a bit. "That was awesome, Jay!"

Stacey bent over and his jaw fell too. "Oh, my God!"

"Dude, you were so far over it!" Sid said.

Jay ran over to us and I high-fived him.

"That was crazy!" Tony said with a smile.

Stacey then skated to the opposite end of the pool, his long, golden-blonde hair flying everywhere. He skated over the light as well.

"Yeah, Stacey!" I said, clapping.

"Yes!" Sid said.

I popped my fingers and smiled a bit, then got onto my skateboard and skated smoothly across the cement. Before I knew it, I felt the same sensation, but this time, I didn't fall! I had skated over the light, perfectly!  
>"Nice, Heather!" Stacey yelled.<p>

"Sweet!" Tony congratulated.

Jay didn't say anthing.

Sid put a determined look on his face and began to skate over to the light. His skating was shaky and inexperienced. Then the pool got too steep and Sid's board flew out from under his feet. "Whoa!" He fell and hit the cement, not moving.

Tony, Jay, Stacey and I looked at each other, and then ran over to Sid.

We stood over him, staring down at him.

Tony prodded Sid's side with his skateboard.

Sid turned over, groaning and staring up at us.

"Are you alright, man?" Stacey asked.

Sid struggled to lift his head and look at his legs and feet. "I… I can't feel my feet…"

We all frowned a bit, still looking at him.

Sid reached up and put an old cigarette between his lips. Then he began to mock Skip. "But then again, I can never feel my feet." He gave a mock laugh and I ran by him, prodding his head with my foot. He gave a painful laugh now.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Over the next week or so, we skated in pools of families that were on vacation or something. We sought out empty pools, whether the families were home or not, sometimes.

The more we skated, the more others got interested and came to watch us. We were nearly caught a few times, but just outsmarted the adults.

Skating in the pools was a great feeling. I didn't have to worry about waves pushing me into the boneyards or anything! The only think I had to worry about was the cement… Man, did it hurt…

But, if I'm being frank, I miss the waves. I miss the feel of the ocean spray on my face and I miss the feeling that I'm floating on the water. I just… I just missed it…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We all sat around a table outside a small restaurant.

Tony slid a chip around in a bowl. "Front side, back side, front side, back side!" Then he smashed the chip with his fist. "Boom! Over the light! Ha-ha!"

We looked around at each other, when a car horn got our attention.

I turned, seeing Skip in his car.

The rest of the guys kept eating, paying no attention to him.

Skip walked over to us, with an unhappy look on his face. He didn't wear a shirt, unless you count an unbuttoned, button-up shirt a "shirt". The many beads and necklaces around his neck waved as he walked.

"Where you been, huh?" Skip asked, looking around at us.

I swallowed and bit my lip, looking at him, trying to avoid his gaze.

No one said anything and the guys still ate.

"What, did you just forget about practice, or what?" Skip _was not _happy.

"I mean, you think I like sitting around on my ass, waiting for you clowns?" He ran a hand through his wavy, golden hair.

Jay hid behind his hand, which held a burger, as he chewed. He had a grin on his face, as he held back laughter.

Tony grinned widely, laughing silently.

"What? It's funny?" Skip said, looking at Tony and Jay.

Skip grabbed Tony's burger and took the meat out. "Is that funny? Is that funny? Ha-ha-ha!" He began to slap Tony lightly with the burger.

The guys burst out laughing as Tony put his arms up to protect himself.

Skip tossed the meat down on the table.

When Jay didn't stop laughing, he grabbed Jay's neck and shoved it a bit. "Hey! I'm serious man!"

Jay stopped laughing and stared up at Skip.

"You guys need to keep pushing, man!" Skip said. He took Tony's burger and walked over to his car, climbing back in. He drove away.

"He took my burger…" Tony said.

Jay and Stacey laughed.

I stared around at them.

"Hey, you think we should bring him to the pool, tomorrow?" Stacey suggested.

Tony shook his head a bit. "He's gotta run the shop."

"Dude…" Jay said. He laughed. "You just got patty-slapped!"

Everyone laughed and Stacey wiped Tony's cheek with a wet napkin. Tony shoved his hand away.

I sighed. "You guys are total assholes, sometimes. You know that?" I said, firmly.

"Heather. You weren't at practice either," Tony said.

"No, I wasn't. But at least I have the guts to go and apologize!" I said, almost yelling. I grabbed my skateboard and got on, skating towards Zephyr.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I walked into the shop, seeing a delivery man standing there, and Skip writing out a check. Sid was behind him, trying to do some skateboard tricks.

Skip wore a pair of old, white overalls, with no shirt and a white baseball cap, turned backwards with orange goggles on the hat.

"Alright, watch," Sid said. "This is my latest move." He attempted to do a handstand, but it didn't go well.

Skip paid no attention to him. "Thank you," he said to the delivery man. He grabbed a box, and there was a clatter as Sid fell.

"Sid, man, get off your ass and get these boxes," Skip said.

Sid lay on the floor in pain…again.

I walked over and set my skateboard down, and then I grabbed a box. "I got it Skip." I followed him to the back of the shop.

"Hey, how many boards are ready?" Skip asked. "I need to peddle this shit at Huntington to cover the check, man." But Montoya and Stecyk weren't in the back room. They were out in the back of the shop, loading up a car.

Skip set the box down and walked back. "Hey, where are you guys going, man?"

Stecyk closed the trunk of the van and turned around. Montoya walked up.

"Rincon. It's firing!" Montoya said.

"Rincon?" Skip echoed.

Stecyk nodded. "Ocean's your mistress, Skip. Don't neglect her."

"Look. Skip, this shop's about surfing when we want and working when we want," Montoya pointed out. "That was the deal, bro!" He walked back and climbed in the car.

Skip scoffed. "Yeah, well, that deal worked out great until we started getting orders from Australia and Brazil, man!"

The van began to drive away, and Skip followed it a bit, kicking it.

I stared at him, shaking my head a bit.

Skip turned around and looked at me, walking back. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to apologize," I said.

"For what, man?" Skip exhaled and stared down at me.

"For everything. I missed practice and I… I really care about the team."

"Yeah, well, you're the only one that does," Skip scoffed.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Skip. Maybe you should come with us to the pools some time. See us skate."

He didn't answer.

"Well… I guess, I'll, uh… See you later, then…" I walked past him.

"See you later, girlie…" Skip said quietly as I walked out.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Here is the long-awaited, Chapter Six of "Everything Means Nothing"! I am so sorry for the delay, but I have a giant paper to right (8-12 pages) and it's due tomorrow, so I was kind of busy with that. Please, please, please forgive me and I will have Chapter Seven up as soon as I can.

Did you like Chapter Six? I'm a bit rusty with writing after taking such a long break…


End file.
